Method of forming uppers of boots and shoes.



M. BROCK & L. M. BROWN. METHOD OF FORMING UPPERS 0F BOOTS AND SHOES.

APPLICATION FILED NOV. 1. 1915.

1, 170,404. Patented Feb. 1, 1916.

2 SHEETSSHEET I.

THE coLUMBjA PLANDOBABH 1:0 WASHINGTON, D. b.

M. BROCK & L. M. BROWN.

METHOD OF FORMING UPPERS 0F. BOOTS AND SHOES. APPLICATION FILED NOV-1.1915.

1,170,404. Patented Feb. 1, 1916.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2- onrrnn srarns PATENT OFFICE;

MATTHIAS BROOK, OF BOSTON, AND LOUIS M. BROWN, 01? BEVERLY, MASSACHUSETTS,

ASSIGNORS TO UNITED SHOE MACHINERY COMPANY, OF PATERSON, NEW JERSEY,

A CORPORATION OF NEW JERSEY.

, METHOD or FORMING urrnns or BOOTS AND snons.

Specification of Letters Patent.

PatentedFeb. 1, 1916.

Original application filed February 9, 1914, Serial No. 817,544.' Divided and this application filed November description, in connection with the accompanying drawings, is' a specification, like reference characters on the drawings indicating like parts in the several figures.

This invention relates to methods of forming or shaping the uppers'of boots and shoes, and this application is a division of our pending application Serial No. 817,544, filed February 9, 1914.

The invention isherein shown and described in its application to the forming or shaping of the uppers of shoes known to the trade as stitch-downs, that is,'shoes in which the uppers have out-turned flanges to which the soles are attached; but it will be apparent that many of the principles of the invention are applicable to the forming or shaping of the uppers of shoes of other types.

According to a preferred practice in the manufacture of stitch-down shoes, the upper before its attachment to the sole is subjected to a forming or molding opera tion in which the sole attaching flange is,

shaped to lie about the toe portion and the toe is given the shape desired for the finshoe. A method of preparing an upper in this manner forms the subjectmatter of United States Letters Patent No. 947,895, granted upon the application of Karl Engel, Feb. 1, 1910, and a machine by the use of which such a method may be practised is disclosed in United States Letters Patent No. 998,682, granted upon the application of Karl Engel, Julv 25, 1911.

In forming an upper to provide an outturned sole attaching flange and to lmpart to that portion of the material bounded bythe flange the desired shape of the toe, it is important to effect such a distribution of the material of the blank as to cause the toe to present a smooth appearance and the Serial No. 59,042.

flange to present a uniform width around the toe. According to the practice disclosed in the patents above referred to, the marginal portion of the blank is first confined under pressure and the unconfined portion is then operated upon to form the toe; and during the toe forming operation suitable compensating movements of the confined margin of the blank are effected, these movements varying in direction and in extent at diflerent portions of the margin. It will be apparent that in this mode 'ofprocedure the molding pressure to which the marginal or flange portion of the blank may be subjected is limited in view of the necessity of effecting a distribution of this portion of the material while under pressure, and that care must be exercised in order to avoid injury to the surface of the material on the upper side of the flange, which is exposed in the In accordance with the method of this invention, as preferably'practised, compensating movement of the marginal portion of the blank to provide a suitable distribution of the material to meet the requirements of the toe forming operation is effected prior to the forming of the, toe proper. As applied to the formation "of an upper for a stitch-down shoe in which the upper is provided with an out-turned flange which is shaped by pressure, this method, contemplates compen'sat ing movement of the marginal portion of the blank before pressure is applied to this portion to form the flange. It will be apparent that, as thus carried out, the improved method of this invention imposes no limitation upon the amount of pressure that may be applied to form the flange, and that there is no danger of tearing or unduly straining the material, or of injuring the finished surface of the blank, through the movement of the material -whereby the proper distribution to meet the requirements of the toe forming operation is effected. I

In carrying out the method of this application the apparatus shown and described in our pending application hereinbefore referred to may be utilized, and an illustration and a description of this apparatus are therefore included herein, although it Will be understood that the successful employment of the method is not dependent upon the use of this particular apparatus.

In the apparatus above referred to, and in the method of this invention as preferably practised, compensating movements are imparted to different portions of themargin of the blank successively so as to effect a progressive gathering of the material first at the toe end and then along the sides of the blank. While this procedurecontribute s to the best results, it will be apparent that many of the advantages of the invention are not necessarily dependent upon this particular manner of elfecting the distribution of the material, and in its broader aspects the invention does not necessarily involve this limitation.

In the drawings, Figure 1 is a vertical section through the machine above referred to, by the use of which the method of this invention may be conveniently carried out; Fig. 2 is a perspective view of a detached portion of the mechanism for operating upon the forepart of the upper; Fig. 8 is a plan view of the mechanism shown in F ig- 2, with portions broken away, showing the parts in clamping position at the completion of the forming operation upon a blank; Fig. 4 illustrates in detail one of the gripping devices for the marginal portion of a blank and the means for moving the device to shift the position of the material; Fig. 5 shows one of the grippers detached, and Fig. 6 is a section on the line 6- 6 of Fig. 3, illustrating the relative arrangement of the material shifting devices.

The illustrated machine is of the same general type as that shown and described in a co-pending application of Karl Engel and Louis M. Brown, Serial No. 464,559, filed November 27, 1908. The machine shown in said application comprises mechanism for shaping both the toe and the heel portions of the upper blanks, but only such portions of the complete machine as are related directly to the toe shaping operation will be described herein in detail.

The upper forming mechanisms are inclined to the'horizontal substantially on an angle of 45, and as above stated comprise means for forming or shaping the heel portion of the upper and means for shaping the toe portion of the upper, these means being arranged to operate in succession. The mechanism'for operating upon thetoe portion is carried by a slide 2 which is movable up and down the incline of the frame 4. This slide, it will be understood, is connected with means for operating upon the heel portion of the blank, and during the latter part of the heel' forming operation is moved downwardly by means not illustrated herein in detail, thereby bringing the mechanism for shaping the toe portion into the position illustrated in Fig. 1 to receive the forepart of the upper from which the toe is to be formed.

The mechanism for operating upon the toe portion of the upper comprises two clamp members 6 and 8 constructed and arranged to clamp a marginal portion of the toe part of a width substantially equal to the desired width of the flange to be formed upon said part, the lower clamp member 6 being preferably stationary with respect to the upper clamp member'and arranged to engage the unfinished side of the upper material or that side which will be concealed in the finished shoe. Both clamp members are preferably formed with smooth material engaging faces, the unfinished side of the material being engaged, however, during the clamping operation by other members to be subsequently described and which operate in conjunction with the lower clamp member and are formed with roughened or toothed faces for engaging with greater security this side of the material. The upper clamp member is formed as a plate cut back somewhat from its inner edge for a purpose hereinafter to be set forth, and is carried by a yoke 10 having ears l2 slidingly mounted upon headed rods14 and pressed upwardly against the heads of these rods by springs 16. The upper clamp member 8 is moved down into clamping relation to the lower clamp member 6, as set forth more fully in the above mentioned pending application, Serial No. 464,559, by the engagement with the yoke 10 of a clamp operating lever 18 which, it will be understood, is fulcrumed at one end upon the machine frame and is yieldingly connected at its other end to an operating rod 20. The lever and rod are loosely connected, and the rod is surrounded at its upper end by a spring 22 which bears upon a nut 24 and upon the lever and serves to uphold the rod with respect to the lever, this relative upward movement of the rod being limited by a nut 26 on the rod below the lever. The yoke 10 has formed upon its upper face a rib 2s which enters'a correspondinggroove in the lever 18 and serves to receive and equalize the pressure of the lever. The rod 20 is slotted at its lower end to receive a cam shaft 80, which is suitably rotated in the direc tion of the arrow shown on' Fig. 1, and the rod carries a cam roll 32 which enters a groove 34 in a cam disk 36 on the shaft 30,

the lower end ofthe rod being connected to a fulcrum link 38 by which its movements are partly guided. After the marginal portion of the toe part of the upper has been clamped to form an out-turned flange, the unclamped portions-are acted upon by a toe former 40 mounted upon a rod 42 adjustably carried by a slide 44 which is guided for movement longitudinally of the upper in guide grooves 46 in a slide 48 arranged to move at right angles to said direction of movement of the slide 44. The toe former 40 has two movements, one movement tranverse to the clamping means or to the plane of the clamped portion of the upper and the other longitudinally of the clamping means and substantially parallel to the plane of said clamped portion. The first of these movements is efiected bythe movement of the slide 48, which carries a cam roll 50 that enters a cam groove 52 in a cam disk 54 on the cam shaft 80, the lower end of the slide being forked to embrace the cam shaft by which it is partly guided in its movements. For moving the toe former in directions substantially parallel to the plane of the clamped portion of the upper there is provided a slide 56 which is carried by the slide 2 and is formed with an opening through which the rod 42 moves in imparting to the toe former its movement transverse to the plane of the clamped portion of the upper. The slide 56 is adjustably connected by a rod 58 to a toggle actuated member 60, the adjustable connections between the rod and member comprising a threaded sleeve 62 on a shouldered portion of which the member 60 is confined by a nut 64, said sleeve being arranged to be turned by a gear 66 intermeshing with a second gear 68 upon a shaft 70 confined against longitudinal movement in a bearing 7 2 in an upstanding lug 7 4 on the slide 2. Turning of the sleeve 62 alone serves to adjust the toe former 40 with respect to the clamp members 6 and 8. These clamp members, however, are carried upon a third slide 7 6 into an upstanding portion of which the shaft 70 is threaded, So that when said shaft is turned by the hand wheel 78, the slide 76 is adjusted upon the slide 2. The threads upon theshaft 7 0 are of the same pitch as those upon the rod 58, and the gears 66 and 68 have the same number of teeth, so that when the shaft 70 and the sleeve 62 are turned together there will be no relative adjusting movement of the toe former 40 and the clamp members 6 and 8. When it is desiredto adjust the position of the toe former with respect to the clamp members, the gear 68 may be disconnected from the shaft 70 and slid along said shaft out of engagement with the gear 66, where-- by the sleeve 62 may be turned without turning the shaft 70. ,Variation of the limit of forward movement of the toe former lonmechanism. the slides 56 and 7 6 upon the slide 2 adapts varies the amount of longitudinal stretch given to the upper during the toeforming operation, the heel portion of the upper being at this time clamped in the heel forming Simultaneous adjustment of the toe forming mechanism to operate upon shoes of different sizes. I

The member 60 ispivotally connected to one link 80 of a toggle, the other link 82 of which is connected to the slide 2. The toggle is straightened and broken, to effect a forward movement of the toe former longitudinally of the upper during the toe forming operation and a backward movement respectively, by. a link 84 connected at one end to the knee joint of the toggle and at its other end to a fulcrum I link 86 upon a bracket 88 on the slide 2, whereby the link 84 is caused to travel with the slide, the link 84 being provided at its joint with the 111? crum link 86 with a pin 90 which enters a slot 92 in an offset arm 94 of a toggle operating slide 96 forked at its lower end to embrace a cam shaft 98, which is suitably r0-. tated in the direction of the arrow in unison with the cam shaft 30. The slide 96 is reciprocated to effect its toggle straightening and breaking operations by the engagement of a cam roll 100 on the slide with a cam groove 102 in a cam disk 104 of the cam shaft 98. The slide 96 is suitably guided at its upper end by the frame. The amount of movement of the toe former 40 caused by the straightening of the toggle 80, 82 may be varied by turning the nut 64 upon the sleeve 62 so as to provide lost motion between the member 60 and thesleeve.

For the purpose of manipulating the material at the margin of the blank in the manner contemplated, the upper clamp member 8 carries upon its lower or clamping face a plurality of grippers comprising, in the construction herein shown, pairs of jaws 106 and 108, of which the members 106 are provided with .fulcrum pins 110 that pass through and are headed upon the upper side of the clamp member 8. The lower jaws 108 are pivoted transversely to thepins 110 and are so proportioned as to be normally opened by gravity when the clamp member 8 is in its uppermostposition. A pin 112 projecting from the jaw 106 and entering a slot in the jaw 108 serves to guide the jaw 108 in its closingand opening movements. The fulcrum pins 110 thus serve to pivot both jaws of the gripping devices for swinging movement together about axes that extend transversely to the planesof the clamping faces of the members 6 and 8, and the jaw 108 has in addition a closing and opening movement with respect to the jaw 106.

The, gripping devices, it will be seen, radi- 3 ate outwardly-from the blank engaging portion ofthe clamp member 8 and are arranged to engage the marginal portion of the blank before and during the clamping of the blank between the members 6 and 8.

For gripping the lower or unfinished side of the material more effectively, the lower jaws 108 are provided with teeth at their material engaging ends, butthe members 106 are preferably formed with smooth surfaces as shown to avoid injuring the material on its finished side. The jaws 106 of the two central gripping devices are connected together at their outer ends by a spring 1141 that tends to swing apart the blank engaging ends of these devices, and the outer ends of the jaws 106 of those gripping devices which are located nearer the sides of the clamp member are connected by springs 116 to pins 118 so as to swing the blank engaging ends of these devices outward and rearward toward the sides of the clamp member. The springs thus serve to keep the blank engaging ends of the grippers normally separated as far as permitted by stop members which engage therewith and which will now be described.

"The lower clamp member 6 is provided with a plurality of recesses 120 corresponding in number and relative locations to the gripping devices on the upper clamp member, and in these recesses are mounted bars 122 which are slotted to receive bolts 124 that are threaded into the member 6 and serve tosecure the bars 122 in different positions of adjustment. These bars are formed at their inner ends with upstanding pins or projections-126 which are so located as to contact with the respective grippers and limit the swinging movement thereof under the influence of the springs 114: and 116. The pins 126 are formed with offset or cam portions 128 which serve on the downward movement of the upper clamp member 8 to engage and close upwardly the lower jaws 108 and finally to impart movement to the grippers in opposition to the force of the springs 114 and 116 to gather in the marginal portion of the blank and effect the required compensating movement of different portions of the material before the margin is finally clamped between the members 6 and 8. As illustrated in Fig. 6, the offsets 128 on the pins which are nearer the middle of the clamp member begin sufiiciently high on the respective pins, relatively to the offsets on the pins that'are more remote from the center of the clamp, to complete substantially the inward swinging movement of the two center grippers before the similar movement of those grippers which are nearer the sides of the clamping members. With this arrangement the gathering movement ofthe two center gripping devices is substantially completed before the other gripping jaws have closed upon the material, and is followed by the gathering movement toward the two center gripping devices of those devices which engage the material farther outwardly along the blank. Different portions of the blank are thus moved in succession to effect the final desired distribution of the material previous to the clamping and toe forming operations. The pins 126 serve also as stops to gage the initial position of the margin of the blank and determine the width of flange which will be formed between the members 6 and 8. On loosening the bolt 124, the bars 122 may be moved radially outward or inward to vary the width of this flange in accordance usually with the size of the blank which is to be operated upon, and the same adjustment will serve to vary proportionately the extent of gathering movement of the gripping devices according to the distances from the fulcrum pins 110 at which these devices are engaged by the offsets 128. The wider the flange, therefore, the greater the shifting move ments which will be imparted to different portions of the blank. The recesses 120 are of proper depth to receive the lower jaws 108 when the clamp members 6 and 8 are in clamping position and to leave the material engaging teeth on these jaws projecting slightly above the surface of the member 6 so as to assist the members 6 and 8 in holding the blank securely in position. The upper jaws 106, it will be understood, are so thin as not to interfere with the clamping of the material between the clamp members, and the recesses 120 are of sufficient width to accommodate variations in the extent of swinging movement of the grippers.

The side portions of the blank engaging part of the clamp member 6 are preferably provided with sockets inclined toward the rear of the corresponding part of-the member 8, and in these sockets are mounted for endwise movement pins 130 the upper end surfaces of which'are'formed to lie in generally parallel relation to the clamping face of the member 6 and are roughened or toothed to engage the under surface of the material. The pins 130 are socketed to receive springs 132 and plungers 134-, which are arranged to hold the pins normally projected a suitable distance from the face of the member 6. In view of the inclination of'the pins 130, it will be understood that when the clamp member 8 has moved downwardly a sufficient distance to press the blank upon the projecting ends of the pins, further movement of the clamp member will serve to depress the pins in their sockets and consequently to impart a slight forward movement to the side marginal portions of the blank before the blank is finally clamped between the members 6 and 8. The pins 130 will preferably project from the surface of the member 6 a suitable distance with reference to the offsets 128 of the outer pins 126 to cause the forward movement of the side marginal portions of the blank to take place after the lateral or gathering movement of the outer,

gripping devices has been substantially completed, so that the movement of the material caused by the depression of the pins 130 is the third and final successive gathering or adjusting movement imparted to the blank before the final clamping of the marginal portion thereof. i

In the operation of the machine it will be understood that after the heel portion of the upper has been formed and while it is still retained in the forming mechanism the parts come to'rest with the mechanism for operating upon the toe part in position to receive the toe end of the upper, and with the cams shown in Fig. 1 somewhat ad vanced from the positions indicated on said figure. The clamp. member 8 at this time is in its uppermost position, and the jaws 108 hang downward from the jaws 106 in position to receive the marginal portion of p the upper, which is now inserted between the jaws of the gripping devices in outstanding relation to the body portion of the blank and with its edge in contact with the pins or gages 126. The machine is now started again in operation by depression of its actuating treadle. As the cam shafts 30 and 98 resume their rotation, the cam first operates upon the roller 32 to depress the rod 20 and move the yoke 10 and the clamp member 8 downward toward its clamping position with respect to the member 6. As the clamp member 8 carries the grippers downward, the jaws 108 which pertain to those two grippers which are nearer the median line of the clamp member first encounter the offsets or cams 128 on the respeotive pins 126 and are closed upwardly to grip the marginal portion of the material between said jaws and the respective jaws 106; and as the downward movement of the clamp member continues the offsets 128 cause these grippers to swing toward each other in opposition to the force of the spring 114 and gather or pucker the grlpped material. During this gathering movement of the central grippers the jaws 108 of the outer gripping devices are being moved upwardly by contact with the respective cams 128 and are finally caused to grip the material at the time when the inner grippers reach the straight portions of their respective cams 12S and, therefore, cease theirv portion which has been gathered by; the inner grippers. After the outer grippers have reached the'straight portions of their respective cams and have therefore ceased their gathering movement, the clamp memher 8 arrives at a point to grip the side marginal portions of the blank between said member and the ends of' the pins 130, and further downward movement serves to depress these pins and'conse'quently to impart to thesidemarginal portions ofthe blank a slight forward gathering movement toward the outer grippers. This'is the third and final adjusting or gathering movement imparted to the blank, and is followed by the clamping of the marginal portion of the blank and the flattening and pressing of the, flange thereon. In the clamping position of the clamp members the toothed portions of the jaws 108 will, as previously explained, project slightly above the face of the member 6 to assist, as will also the ends of the pins 130, in securely holding the blank margin. After the member 8 has been moved to clamping position, the cam 36 serves to retain it in such position during the toe forming operation, with the spring 22 imparting the requisite clamping pressure. The rotation of the shaft 30 next brings "the offset portion of the cam groove 52 in position to operate the roller 50 and raise the slide 48 and the toe former 10 sufficiently to bring the forward under edge of the former in a plane above the marginal edge of theclamp'member 8. Rotation of the shaft 98 has now brought the ofiset portion of the cam groove 102 in position to operate upon the roller 100 and raise the slide 96. Thisserves to straighten the toggle 80, 82 and move the slide 56 forwardly, 105 thereby imparting forward movement to the toe former to form a bulge of thetoe over its flange and simultaneously a crease between the fiange and the toe. To facilitate this forming operation theedge of the clamp member 8 is cut backwardly upon its upper side. Rotation of the shafts 30 and 98 now ceases automatically, and the parts of the mechanism are retained in the position to which they have been moved to permit the upper to set to shape. When it is desired to remove the upper, a further actuation of the starting. mechanism, it will be understood, causes the parts to return to their first position represented in Fig. 1.

It will be seen by referring to Fig. 3 that the gripping or gathering devices are arranged unsymmetrically with reference to the clamp members in order to effect the required movement of different portions of I the unsymmetrical blank for a right shoe;

.and it will be understood that in the mechanism for forming the upper of a left shoe, which may form a part of the same machine, these devlces w ll be arranged 1n re versed relation to the sides of the clamp members.

Having explained the nature of the invention and set forth fully how it may be practised, what we claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United adjusted relation, and While said portions are thus retained applying forming pressure to an unconfined portion of the blank.

2. The method of forming shoe uppers which consists in gathering the material along the margin of an upper blank, and then confining the marginal portion of the blank in out-turned relation to the body portion and applying forming pressure to an unconfined portion of the blank.

3. The method of forming shoe uppers which consists in gathering the material along the margin of an upper blank to provide a fullness at the front portion of the blank, flattening the margin of the blank and confining it'with its different portions in gathered relation, and while the margin is thus confined applying forming pressure to an-unconfined portion of the blank. 4. The method of forming shoe uppers which consists in positioning an upper blank with the margin in outstanding relation to the body portion, moving different portions of the material at the margin of the blank relatively to gather the material, confining "the margin of the blank to retain the different portions in gathered relation, and while said portions are thus retained applying pressure to form a toe from an unconfined .portion of the blank.

" 5. The method of shaping a toe blank which consists in positioning a blank with its margin in outstanding relation to its body portion, relatively moving different portions of the material at the margin of the blank in the direction of the toe end of the blank to provide a fullness of the material preparatory to the forming of the toe, retaining the different portions of the material at the margin in said adjusted relation, and while said portions are thus retained applying pressure to the blank to form the toe.

6. The method of shaping a toe blank which consists in gathering the material at the margin of the blank to provide a fullness of the material at the toe end, and then confining the marginal portion of the blank and applying pressure thereto to form an out-turned flange and applying pressure to the unconfined portion of the blank to form a toe.

7. The method of shaping a toe blank which consists in gathering the material at the margin of the blank first at the toe end and then along the sides of the blank preparatory to the forming of the toe, and then flattening the margin and confining it with its different portions in gathered relation and applying pressure to form a toe from an unconfined portion of the blank.

8. The method of shaping a toe blank which consists in relatively moving different portions of the material at the margin of the blank in a direction toward the toe end preparatory to the forming of the toe, confining the margin of the blank under pressure to retain the different portions in said adjusted relation and to form an outturned flange, and while said pressure is maintained forming a toe from the unconfined portion of the blank without moving said confined portion.

In testimony whereof we have signed our names .to this specification.-

MATTHIAS BROCK. LOUIS M. BROWN.

Copies of this patent may be obtained fo'r five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents. Washington, D. C. 

